Posted in Agendas, Barrington Hills Park District, Barrington Hills Polo Club, Big Red, Commercial Horse Boarding, Countryside Elementary School, Deception, Ethics, Fox River Valley Hunt, FPDCC, FRVPC, FUBAR, Goat Rodeo, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Mad Cows, Massbach Hounds, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Real Estate, Riding Center Advisory Committee, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Transparency, Unions on November 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The Barrington Hills Park District Board will hold their monthly meeting this evening in person and via Zoom at 7:00 PM. The only item of note on their agenda is a, “Truth in Taxation Ordinance,” and, of course, no further information is provided. Truth without transparency is worthless.
A copy of their agenda can be viewed here. Instructions for accessing the meeting remotely can be found here.
Posted in 220, Agendas, Barrington Education Association, Barrington High School, Board of Education, Countryside Elementary School, Deception, District 220 referendum, Entertainment, Ethics, His Master's Voice, Pension Funding, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Resident Surveys, School Districts, Transparency, Unions, Video Streaming, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on November 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The District 220 Board of Education meets this evening at 7:00 PM at the District Administration Center, 515 W. Main Street. Topics on their agenda include:
A copy of the agenda can be viewed here. The meeting will be live-streamed on the district YouTube channel.
Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Barrington High School, Board of Education, Countryside Elementary School, Deception, District 220 referendum, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, School Districts, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on October 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“At the Oct. 17 Board meeting, the Board heard an update on student enrollment numbers in Barrington 220. Thirty days into the 2023-24 school year, the district’s total enrollment was 8,043 students, which is a decrease of 178 students compared to last school year.
This decrease aligns with the results of a demographic study the district conducted in 2022 with demographer Dr. John Kasarda. Dr. Kasarda’s report anticipates a decrease in student enrollment over the next couple of years, followed by an increase.
The 30-day enrollment figures are a snapshot in time. Enrollment will fluctuate during the school year as it has in the past, and the district will continue to monitor it accordingly.”
Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, BOHICA, Countryside Elementary School, District 220 referendum, Ethics, His Master's Voice, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Unions, Video Recordings, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on October 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“At the Oct. 17 Barrington 220 Board of Education meeting, the Board supported the district’s recommendation to implement free full-day kindergarten at all Barrington 220 elementary schools, beginning at the start of the 2024-25 school year. Full-day kindergarten will extend core instruction (math, science, literacy, etc.) throughout the school day. It will eliminate the district’s fee-based Kindergarten Enrichment Program.
In addition to implementing full-day kindergarten at all elementary schools, the Board supported the district’s recommendation to create a free full-day kindergarten lab program at Barrington High School. This opt-in program will also begin at the start of the 2024-25 school year. The ‘K-Lab’ will include two kindergarten classes (46 students total), and it will provide unique learning opportunities to students, thanks to its location at BHS. Students will be enrolled in the program utilizing a lottery system similar to the district’s Spanish Dual Language and Chinese Immersion programs. More details about the K-Lab will be provided in the coming months”.
Posted in Agendas, Algonquin Rd, Animal Welfare, BACT, Barrington Hills Park District, Barrington Hills Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, Countryside Elementary School, Entertainment, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Fox River Valley Hunt, FPDCC, FRVPC, Horizon Farm, Horse Boarding, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Use, Lighting Ordinance, Massbach Hounds, Plan Commission, Politics, Public Safety, Real Estate, Resident Spotlights, Riding Center Advisory Committee, Riding Club Commission, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Taxes, The Other Half, Traffic, Transparency, Unions, Village Government, Well Water Quality, Zoning Board on October 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The Barrington Hills Park District Board will hold their monthly meeting this evening in person and via Zoom at 7:00 PM. Their meeting is scheduled to start with a Forest Preserve Master Plan Presentation for Horizon Farm & Spring Creek.
A copy of their agenda can be viewed here. Instructions for accessing the meeting remotely can be found here.
Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Countryside Elementary School, Ethics, Organizations, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, School Districts, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on October 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Few Illinois third-grade students can read at grade level. Even fewer low-income and minority students are at grade level in reading. Research shows this is a warning sign for Illinois students’ academic success and adult earning potential.
Just over one-fourth of all third-grade students in Illinois can read at grade level. For low-income and minority students, reading proficiency is even worse.
A student’s “academic success, as defined by high school graduation, can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by knowing someone’s reading skill at the end of third grade,” according to the National Research Council.
By this measure, the outlook for Illinois third-grade students is grim. Even more troubling is the outlook for Illinois students from low-income and minority families.
What’s at stake isn’t just poor grades on report cards in third grade, but what poor reading proficiency means for students’ futures. As noted in the research to follow, the poor rates of reading proficiency plaguing Illinois threaten to condemn a portion of the state’s future adults to poverty. The price will be paid not just by the children our education system fails but also by society at large.
Third-grade literacy in Illinois
Statewide in 2022, only 27.4% of all students could read at grade level by the end of third grade. A startling 89% of the 734 school districts for which the Illinois State Board of Education recorded proficiency rates among third graders had a higher percentage of third-grade students failing to read at grade level than reading at grade level. There were 12 school districts in which no third-grade students were proficient at reading.
Read more here.
Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Countryside Elementary School, District 220 referendum, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Unions, Video Recordings, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on September 21, 2023| 2 Comments »
“At the Sept. 19 Board meeting, the Board heard a presentation about implementing full-day kindergarten in Barrington 220. Full-day kindergarten would extend core instruction (math, science, literacy, etc.) throughout the school day, and allow teachers time to encompass the whole child in exploration and personalized learning, as well as social-emotional development.
Currently, Barrington 220 offers a half-day option, however, the majority of students are enrolled in a fee-based Kindergarten Enrichment Program that runs a full day. One might assume that since the district currently accommodates the full-day Kindergarten Enrichment Program, it could easily accommodate full-day kindergarten. However, there are many factors to consider prior to implementing full-day kindergarten. For instance, over the past decade, there has been an enrollment increase each year of 40 to 60 students between kindergarten and first grade. Anecdotal evidence is that many of these students are attending private full-day programs, which leads to the assumption that a full-day program in the district will result in an increase in kindergarten enrollment. This would require an increase in staffing, as well as classroom space.
The district is currently reviewing options to renovate two or three classrooms at BHS to house a kindergarten lab program, or build classroom additions at elementary schools.
A final recommendation will be presented to the Board in October. Click here to listen to the Board presentation.”
Posted in 220, Agendas, Barrington Education Association, Barrington High School, Board of Education, Countryside Elementary School, District 220 referendum, Ethics, His Master's Voice, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Unions, Video Recordings, Video Streaming, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on September 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The District 220 Board of Education meets this evening at 7:00 PM at the District Administration Center, 515 W. Main Street. Topics on their agenda include:
A copy of the agenda can be viewed here. The meeting will be live-streamed on the district YouTube channel.
Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Barrington High School, Board of Education, Countryside Elementary School, Deception, Elgin Community College, Ethics, Harper College, His Master's Voice, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on September 16, 2023| 1 Comment »
A pile of challenged books appear at the Utah Pride Center in Salt Lake City on Dec. 16, 2021. Attempted book bannings and restrictions at school and public libraries continue to surge, according to a new report from the American Library Association. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Officials from Illinois’ major political parties are making clear one issue they’ll be taking sides on heading into the 2024 election cycle.
Illinois still has a primary to get through in March. But, heading into November next year, things are expected to heat up. One issue Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias put in the national spotlight during testimony to a U.S. Senate committee this week was that of access to controversial books.
“Tragically, our libraries have become the thunder domes of controversy and strife across our nation, the likes of which we’ve never seen before,” Giannoulias said.
The Democratic statewide official promoted the Illinois measure he spearheaded to withhold taxpayer-funded grants to public and school libraries that he said “ban books.”
“This right to read legislation will help remove the pressure that librarians have tragically had to endure over the last couple of years,” he said.
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias during a U.S. Senate committee hearing
Giannoulias was read obscene materials* some say should be allowed in school, which he acknowledged was offensive.
Illinois GOP Chairman Don Tracy said he was baffled by the Democrat’s position.
Read more here.
Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Barrington High School, Board of Education, Countryside Elementary School, Elgin Community College, Harper College, His Master's Voice, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, School Districts, Springfield, TMI, Topics Of Interest, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on September 13, 2023| 1 Comment »
The books being made available to children in public schools and libraries was the topic of a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, with an Illinois law thrust into the spotlight.
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias testified before the committee to explain the legislation. Beginning next year, Illinois will withhold tax dollars from public libraries that limit what types of books are available.
“This legislation is important because both the concept and practice of banning books contradicts the very essence of what our country stands for and what our democracy was founded on,” Giannoulias said.
Republicans have taken issue with the definition of book bans adopted by Pen America, which said books being pulled off the shelves in schools for review constitutes a ban.
“This is not a ban. This is about schools deciding what’s appropriate for school children, and sexually explicit and obscene, pornographic material isn’t appropriate,” U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said.
The hearing took a racy turn when U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, read passages from a couple books, including a profane paragraph from “Gender Queer,” which has appeared on Pen America’s banned book list.
“No one is advocating for sexually explicit content to be available in an elementary school library or in the children’s section of the library,” said committee chair U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois. “That is a distraction from the real challenge.”
Read more and view the video here.
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